Desert rat kangaroo

Caloprymnus campestris

Blamed on foxes

IUCN status: Extinct

Last seen: Caloprymnus campestris were last seen in 1935 in Ooroowilanie, east of Lake Eyre (IUCN 2023)

IUCN claim: “Extinction is considered to have been due to predation by red foxes and feral cats.”

Studies in support

Desert rat kangaroos were last confirmed 24-28 years after foxes arrived (Current submission).

Studies not in support

No studies

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies evidencing a link between foxes and the extinction of desert rat kangaroos.

Evidence linking Caloprymnus campestris to foxes. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019.

References

Current submission (2023) Scant evidence that introduced predators cause extinctions.

Fairfax, Dispersal of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) across Australia. Biol. Invasions 21, 1259-1268 (2019).

IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023